If Only She Knew

38. Transylvania

Present time, London...

"What? You're going to interrogate me again, right now?"

"Yeah", the officer smiled warmly, ironically. "And you're going to answer." He didn't fail to imply a negative consequence was possible.

"What am I even accused of?" Ariana cracked a smile. "Thought I plead innocent to everything."

She thought of Joseph... Of the way he made love to her yesterday. Only he gave her the strenght to outstand what was to come...

"You are accused of the 1st degree murder of your father, mister Bernard Johnson, former CEO of Johnson's Electronics," Detective Wang Lei Zhang said, his tone clean and direct. That shocked Ariana and left her with her face hanging off.

She had recently remembered the day her mother had died. She remembered her father killed her, and a burning hate and despair dominated her, because she was locked up and nobody listened to her. She was glad he was dead, and at the same time, her heart hurt somewhere. But she didn't remember killing him herself.

"What do you mean I killed him? I would remember if I killed him," Ariana shouted from her bed, jerking the handcuff that wanted to break off. The handcuff edged into her skin, wanting apparently to penetrate it. Ariana was numbed to the pain because she was busy shouting at the investigator.

"You murdered him and you were seen by witnesses. There's a reason you're in a mental asylum right now Ariana though," The Chinese man said calmly, smiling at her. "You don't remember."

*

Two months ago...

Ariana told Joseph everything the killer told her that night, and she called Michael. Michael and his team, as well as backup and cops were all in the midst of swiping Johnson's Electronics just then.

"And why would you think he's hiding out in dark faraway Transylvania, of all places? Like, you mean, Dracula- Transylvania?" Michael asked her incredulously on the phone.

"My paternal grandmother was a Romanian woman from Transylvania, that's why. He's built a secret villa there, where she lives now. I visited when I was little," Ariana recalled as she scratched her nose, looking at Joseph who listened to her speak to Michael with crossed arms. "I might be wrong, but I think that's where we should go. We really have nothing else, right?"

Joseph was speaking to her through his eyes, and by rising his eyebrows. He was very unpatient to learn what they were discussing about.

"Ok, Ariana. We're going. I'm going to present this information to the higher ups and get us on the trip as soon as possible. Don't make me regret this." He hang up.

Ariana sighed looking at Joseph, throwing her arms downwards in exasperation. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" he asked, hurt amd shocked. "I'm your fiancé Ariana, what do I want? You've been keeping yourself an ocean apart from me mentally lately and you've been chasing these cases as if your very life depended on them." He grabbed her hand and grabbed her phone, playfully, while she wasn't paying close attention. She was mentally absent.

"What, Joseph, give me my phone back-"

"Nope, not until you tell me where you're leaving, again," Joseph said with a smile, while he was holding the phone up in the air. She was short and couldn't reach it.

"We're going to Transylvania to arrest my father, now, give me back my phone Jo." She rose on her toes and quabbled with him until he gave in and let her have the phone.